I am a faculty member with a joint appointment in Computer Science and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. My research explores the interplay of language, cognition, and computational intelligence with a focus on lexical creativity. Natural language relies on a finite vocabulary to express an unbounded set of ideas. I am interested in how humans construct the lexicon to convey emerging meanings through time and in different cultures. I take a computational approach to characterize the cognitive foundations of lexical creativity and the functional principles of lexicons across languages. I also develop computational methods for understanding diachronic processes such as semantic change and moral change.

Note: I will not be taking any new PhD students in the academic year 2024-25.

Sample publications